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Bomb in telaviv wounds 20 arafat blames israel { July 12 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/12/international/middleeast/12mide.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/12/international/middleeast/12mide.html
July 12, 2004
Bombing in Tel Aviv Kills a Soldier and Wounds 20 Israelis
By GREG MYRE
JERUSALEM, July 11 - A bomb exploded next to a Tel Aviv bus stop on Sunday, killing an Israeli soldier, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for Israel to respond by pressing ahead with the West Bank barrier to separate Palestinians and Israelis, which an international court has ruled illegal.
The attack, which also wounded about 20 other Israelis, was the first deadly bombing inside Israel in nearly four months, the longest such stretch since the current round of fighting began in September 2000.
Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a faction linked to the Fatah movement of Yasir Arafat, claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was revenge for recent Israeli raids in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
But Mr. Arafat, the Palestinian leader, denounced the attack and then hinted that Israelis might have been behind the bombing.
"We condemn this act, as we always condemn these acts," Mr. Arafat said at his West Bank compound in Ramallah, where he has been confined for more than two years. "You know who is behind these acts," he said. "Europe knows it, the Americans know it, the Israelis know it."
The bomb was concealed in bushes next to the bus stop, and the police said it might have been detonated by remote control. The blast occurred shortly after 7 a.m., during the morning rush hour. Sunday is the first day of the workweek in Israel.
A 19-year-old soldier, Maayan Nayim, was killed in the blast, which wounded people on the street as well as passengers on a bus that was passing by on a busy thoroughfare, near the city's main bus station.
Among those wounded was Sammi Masrawa, an Israeli Arab who leads an Arab-Jewish friendship group in the Tel Aviv area. Mr. Masrawa told Israel radio that he had opposed the barrier, and took part in recent protests against it. But the bombing on Sunday changed his mind, he said.
"I will now be for it and from an organization in favor of it,'' said Mr. Masrawa, 29, who was wounded in the leg. He had been heading to a restaurant where he works as a chef.
[Early Monday, Israeli armored vehicles pushed into the Gaza Strip to demolish what the army called militant gun posts, Reuters reported. Palestinian medics said a man was killed when his house was knocked down in the raid, near Khan Yunis.]
The last bombing in Israel was on March 14, when two suicide bombers killed 10 Israelis in Ashdod, a southern port town.
Shortly after the bombing on Sunday, Mr. Sharon gathered his cabinet in Jerusalem and reiterated that his government would ignore the decision handed down Friday by the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court.
In a nonbinding decision, the court ruled that the sections of the separation barrier that Israel was building in the West Bank were a violation of international law and should be torn down, with compensation paid to Palestinians who have lost land.
"I want to make it clear: the state of Israel completely rejects the I.C.J.'s opinion," Mr. Sharon told his cabinet. "The opinion completely ignores the reason for the construction of the security fence - murderous Palestinian terrorism."
About 120 miles of the planned 437-mile barrier has been built in the last two years, and Israel says it has already contributed to a sharp decline in the number of Palestinian attacks.
But Palestinians say the barrier has separated West Bank residents from their farmland, schools and jobs, and is undermining efforts to create a viable Palestinian state.
Parts of the barrier run along Israel's 1967 border, and the Palestinian leadership says Israel is free to build along this path if it wishes.
But most of the existing barrier, and segments planned for construction, are in the West Bank on land that Israel seized in the 1967 war.
In another development on Sunday, Israel's High Court of Justice called for a temporary halt to building one segment of the fence in the West Bank, northeast of Tel Aviv.
It is the second time in the last two weeks that the court has frozen construction on parts of the barrier in response to Palestinian objections.
In addition, the court ruled last month that Israel must reroute about 20 miles of the barrier that is planned inside the West Bank, to the northwest of Jerusalem. The court said that the route caused undue hardship to the Palestinians in the area, and that the government must balance security concerns with the needs of Palestinians.
Mr. Sharon has said Israel will abide by the Israeli court's decisions, and the Defense Ministry, which is responsible for building the barrier, is working on an alternative route.
According to the United Nations, the route approved by Mr. Sharon's government would put nearly 15 percent of West Bank territory on the western, or Israeli, side.
The Palestinians say they will seek further international backing for the ruling by the International Court of Justice.
They are expected to raise the issue in the United Nations General Assembly in the near future. However, if the Palestinians take a resolution to the Security Council, it could be blocked by the United States, which has used its veto power before to block resolutions critical of Israel.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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